Former USPS Board Chairman issues statement on “postal politics”

PHILADELPHIA, April 24, 2018 — S. David Fineman, Former Chair of the United States Postal Board of Governors, has released the following statement on “postal politics.”

The Postal Service should not be a political football. We should move ahead with providing needed oversight of the system.

It has been eight years since the Senate approved a nominee to the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service. Since last December there is not one member serving on the nine-member Board because of expired terms. No one is overseeing the postal system. It is a rudderless ship. It was profitable and can still be profitable.

President Obama’s nominations to the Board of Governors never received Senate Hearings. I am encouraged that the Senate has finally held hearings on President Trump’s three nominees. He needs to make additional nominations so that the US Postal Service Board of Governors can have a full complement to do its very important work.

The nine Governors are nominated for a seven-year term, by the President of the United States and require Senate approval. They make up the “Board” along with the Postmaster General and Deputy Postmaster General (both chosen by the nine Governors). By law, the Board must be made up of five members of one party and four members of the other party. The Board is comparable to a board of directors of a private corporation. This bipartisan Board without political influence needs to be constituted immediately.

The USPS serves every citizen in the United States, every residential and business address.

153.9 billion mail pieces were processed and delivered by the 640,000 postal employees in 2016

And it had an operating revenue of $74.1 billion.

And 5.98 million passport applications were accepted at the 31,585 Postal Service-managed retail offices.